East and West Germany reunite after 45 years - Oct 03, 1990 - HISTORY.com East and West Germany reunite after 45 years Share this: East and West Germany reunite after 45 years Author East and West Germany reunite after 45 years URL Publisher A+E Networks Less than one year after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany come together on what is known as “Unity Day.” Since 1945, when Soviet forces occupied eastern Germany, and the United States and other Allied forces occupied the western half of the nation at the close of World War II, divided Germany had come to serve as one of the most enduring symbols of the Cold War. Some of the most dramatic episodes of the Cold War took place there. The Berlin Blockade (June 1948–May 1949), during which the Soviet Union blocked all ground travel into West Berlin, and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 were perhaps the most famous. With the gradual waning of Soviet power in the late 1980s, the Communist Party in East Germany began to lose its grip on power.

Tens of thousands of East Germans began to flee the nation, and by late 1989 the Berlin Wall started to come down. Shortly thereafter, talks between East and West German officials, joined by officials from the United States, Great Britain, France, and the USSR, began to explore the possibility of reunification. Two months following reunification, all-German elections took place and Helmut Kohl became the first chancellor of the reunified Germany. Although this action came more than a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, for many observers the reunification of Germany effectively marked the end of the Cold War. Related Videos Reunification of Germany 3 October 1990 | ICV 3. 10. 2010 Reunification of Germany 3 October 1990 The reunification of Germany in 1990 is one of the most important historical milestones of the European history after 1945. However, it is not possible to narrow circumstances preceding this historical event only to the period between November 1989 and October 1990, it means to the time period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the act of the German reunification.

The entire second half of 1980’ was an important political prologue to this process. Political Situation in Europe before the Reunification Relations between both parts of Germany were very strained during the entire Cold War. However, since the half of 1980’ certain changes in communication between West German and East German politicians began to be apparent. The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) Erich Honecker accepted, as the first Eastern Europe political representative, invitation to visit the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1984. The meeting was not held eventually because of deployment of intermediate range ballistic missiles in the FRG. He met Helmut Kohl as late as in 1987 during his visit to the FRG. Both leaders agreed on a "constructive cooperation in spite of different views on crucial issues". Nevertheless, a decisive factor for the German reunification was the arrival of a new Establishment in the Soviet Union after the appointment of Mikhail Gorbachev to the office of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In contrast to his predecessors, Gorbačov regarded as necessary to change radically not only the internal economic and political conditions but also the foreign policy of the Soviet Union including the attitude to the East European countries. On 25 October 1989, during his visit to Finland, Gorbachev officially repudiated the Brezhnev's doctrine and admitted that East European countries had right to make their own policies. The new approach to the existing East European satellites became common under the term Sinatra Doctrine, which was a reminiscence of the lyrics of the Sinatra's song "I do it my way". However, Gorbachev's attitude to the German reunification was radically negative both before 1989 and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first meeting of Mikhail Gorbachev and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Helmut Kohl was held on 24 October 1988. At that time Kohl did not believe that he would ever negotiate with Mikhail Gorbachev on the German reunification. When asked about a possibility of Gorbachev offer of reunification of Germany, Kohl replied: "I am not a writer of futuristic novels like Wells.

What you ask me about, is rather something of the Empire of Fantasy". Events after the fall of the Berlin Wall The crucial role in the process of the German reunification was played by the West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl who, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, clearly declared his intention to reunify both parts of the divided German state. On 28 October he gave in Bundestag an important speech in which he emphasized necessity of a speedy reunification of both German republics. On 28 November 1989 he presented so-called ten-point plan for German reunification. The most important was the fifth point of the plan in which Helmut Kohl mentioned a possibility to "develop confederate structures between the two states in Germany with the objective of creating of a federal order in Germany". However the negotiations with East German political representatives were complicated by the fact that the West German side had not known for a long time whom to regard as the legitimate partner at the negotiating table.

Officially it was Egon Krenz, the General Secretary of the SED, who was the highest representative of the GDR, but he was holding his post only from 24 October 1989 to 6 December 1989 and thus he was not able to guarantee continuity of the negotiating process. It was apparent that this issue could be solved only by general elections in the GDR. They were held on 18 March 1990 and the Alliance for Germany, which won more than 47 % of votes, became a straight winner of the elections. Also Kohl’s CDU took part in the elections as a part of this alliance and won more than 40 % of votes. "Not even I had expected such a result" said Helmut Kohl. The ensuing negotiations on the new cabinet were quite smooth and on 12 April 1990 a new cabinet was appointed. It was headed by Lothar de Maizir (CDU) who negotiated with Helmut Kohl on the future arrangements. The integration of the two states was done also at the economic level.

The date of declaration of the monetary union between the GDR and the FRG was set and the union came into effect on 1 July 1990. On 23 August 1990 the East German parliament (Volkskammer) adopted at its extraordinary session the reunification of both parts of Germany in the ratio of 294 to 64 and on 31 August 1990 the Reunification Treaty was signed by the State Secretary of the GDR Günther Kraus and by the West German Minister of Interior Wolfgang Schäubl. The Treaty contained 45 articles and three annexes. In the Treaty there were defined relations between the two German republics and set down the state division of former GDR to five federal republics governed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Attitudes of the USA, Soviet Union, France and Great Britain On 13 November 1989 an important negotiation of the most significant American politicians -President George Bush, the Secretary of State James Baker and the chief expert on foreign policy Henry Kissinger – was held.

Henry Kissinger said on the issue of the German reunification: "The German reunification is inevitable and the United States will have to pay for that if Germans feels that we are putting obstacles in their path". Most of American political representatives connected the support of the German reunification with its membership in NATO. The unity of NATO was more important for the United States than the act of the reunification of both German republics itself. As far as this issue is concerned, Kohl was for the United States a fundamental advocate of their strategy of incorporation of unified Germany into the NATO structures. A significant event in the process of negotiations on the German reunification was the setting-up of so-called “4+2 mechanism“. This mechanism meant regular meetings of representatives of the Soviet Union, United States, Great Britain, France and both German states. There were certain critical opinions regarding this arrangement. In particular on the American side there were fears of loss of the influence on the situation in Germany because of broadening of negotiating competences to more states. Mikhail Gorbachev’s approach to the German reunification was always very reserved and he was absolutely unsympathetic to plans for the incorporation of unified Germany to the NATO structures.

This issue was very sensitive for Gorbachev because these discussions had begun soon after the breakdown of the Eastern Block. Gorbachev became more involved in the negotiations on the German reunification at the end of May 1990 when he intensively discussed this issue with his American counterpart George Bush. George Bush together with the Secretary of State James Baker presented during these negotiations their idea on the role of NATO in arrangement in Europe. According to Bush and Baker, NATO intended to play a role of an "anchor of stability" which would guarantee solidarity of Europe with NATO. Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to this proposal in fact, which meant principal change in the attitude of the Soviet representatives to the issue of reunification. Further important shift in opinion took place during the visit of Helmut Kohl in the Soviet Union in mid-July 1990, after which Gorbachev withdrew his reservations to the planned size of Bundeswehr and the German membership in NATO. Thus, main reservations on the Soviet side to the German reunification were removed. In France there were strong fears of unification of the two divided German republics.

These fears were based on the idea that the strong Germany would have different view of the function of the European Union. France was afraid of weakening of its influence on the foreign policy of the European Union Also the demographic factor played its important role in this respect. While the FRG had number of inhabitants similar to that of France, the unified Germany would have about 80 million inhabitants. The advisor of the French President Mitterand, Jacques Attali, confidentially told his Soviet counterpart that "France does not wish the reunification of Germany despite its conviction that it is inevitable in the end". Not even the French President Mitterand concealed his fears of united Germany. As early as in August 1989 began to hold an opinion that in connection with the unification of the two republics the term unification instead of reunification should be used. Mitterand’s fears of a possibility of unification of Germany further increased during 1989. In September, during his visit to Kiev, he declared that excessive haste in connection with the German unification could have negative impact on the stability of the European Community.

His fears of German reunification could not be mitigated even by the fact that Mitterand and Helmut Kohl were tied by a firm bond of friendship. He expressed his feelings on 20 January 1990 when, during a private conversation with the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, stated that "reunification of Germany might lead to the birth of a new Hitler and to the revival of memories of bad Germans who ruled over Europe then". In March 1990 the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom during his visit to Margaret Thatcher said that according to the meaning of the French government "France and Great Britain must jointly face to the German threats". An extremely negative stand to the German reunification was holding by the Prime minister of Great Britain Margaret Thatcher. Unlike other statesmen, she did not regard the German reunification as a historical crowning of the disintegration of the Soviet Block and the unification of divided Europe. She was seeing the process of German reunification from the point of view of her fears of the revision of German frontiers.

Her fears increased in December 1989 after the release of ten-point plan of Helmut Kohl; in response to this plan she said: "We have defeated Germans twice and now they are here again". During her meeting with Helmut Kohl she declared that "it is possible to consider the German reunification of the two republics as late as after some 10 or 15 years when it is undoubted that both countries have sufficiently firm democracy". She was seeking allies for her approach among European politician and partly found such an ally in the person of François Mitterand who, however, did not held such a strong attitude. Unlike the French President, she did not believe that Germany would restrict its own political and economic ambitions in the framework of the European Community". She regarded the process of reunification as too fast and improvident. She also feared that the process of reunification would weaken the Gorbachev’s position in the Soviet Union. Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, Thatcher informed Mikhail Gorbachev that German reunification was not in the interest of Great Britain. Nevertheless, the British Prime Minister remained isolated with her flat resistance to the German reunification,.

"Margaret Thatcher went too far with her opposition in this matter", said former west German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. The attitude of the British Prime Minister changed as late as after the Dublin summit in May 1990; the summit guaranteed existing frontiers on Oder and Neisse. Thus, the ensuing negotiations in the composition 2+4 could be held in a more unemotional spirit. On 12 September 1990 the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany was signed in Moscow. This principal document stipulated the German reunification from the point of view of the international law. By the adoption of this Treaty, the Allies lost their right and responsibility related to Berlin and Germany as a whole. In the Article 7 it is stipulated that "the united Germany shall have full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs". The Treaty also bound member states to maintain limited number of German armed forces of Germany at the level of 300 000 men. After the signature of this Treaty nothing hampered the German reunification.

German Unity Day On the night of 2 October to 3 October 1990, more than 100 000 people came to celebrate the reunification of both German states at the Republic Square in Berlin. As Helmut Kohl highlights in his memoirs, the act of the German reunification at the place in front of the Reichstag building was a historical symbol: "From the window of the western portal, the social democrat Scheidemann declared in November 1918 the First German Republic. Its end was symbolized by flames which flared up out of the cupola of the building in 1933. After the end of the Second World War, Soviets hoisted on its ruins the red flag and started the division of Germany and Europe.

What could have been a better place, after those forty-five years, for celebration of the end of this division and of the start of a new and let us hope more peaceful era?" Helmut Kohl | chancellor of Germany | Britannica.com chancellor of Germany Frederick I Helmut Kohl, (born April 3, 1930, Ludwigshafen am Rhein , Germany ), German politician who served as chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990 and of the reunified German nation from 1990 to 1998. He presided over the integration of East Germany into West Germany in 1990 and thus became the first chancellor of a unified Germany since 1945. Helmut Kohl, 1996. Overview of Helmut Kohl’s political career, including his role in the reunification of Germany. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz In the 1980s West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl worked to create a united Europe that would be both … Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Kohl grew up in a conservative Roman Catholic family.

As a teenager in wartime Germany, he was drafted and sent to basic training, but the war ended before he had to fight. His interest in politics manifested itself early: in 1947 he began working in a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) youth organization in his native town. Kohl earned a doctorate in political science at the University of Heidelberg (1958). He was elected in 1959 to the Rhineland-Palatinate state legislature and in 1969 to the state’s post of minister president (prime minister), and he soon developed a reputation as a capable administrator. He also became the CDU’s national deputy chairman in 1969, and he was elected chairman of the party in 1973. Kohl entered the 1976 federal elections as the chancellor candidate of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), but lost to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) led by Helmut Schmidt . In 1982 many members of Schmidt’s coalition partners, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), deserted their alliance with him.

The combined forces of the CDU, the CSU, and the FDP defectors passed a vote of no confidence against Schmidt in the Bundestag (West German parliament) on October 1, 1982, and immediately forced him from office by giving Kohl the required absolute majority in the ensuing vote for a new chancellor. The CDU-CSU-FDP coalition won a 58-seat majority in federal elections held on March 6, 1983. Kohl’s government went on to follow centrist policies that included modest cuts in government spending and strong support for West German commitments to NATO . These policies were confirmed by victory in the federal elections of January 25, 1987, although the CDU-CSU-FDP coalition held a reduced majority of 45 seats. Britannica Stories Scientists Ponder Menopause in Killer Whales As the Soviet Union abandoned its control over eastern Europe in 1989–90, Kohl led the drive for the speedy reunification of West with East Germany. The opposition SDP, by contrast, approached this momentous issue much more warily.

When East Germany held its first democratic parliamentary elections in March 1990, Kohl campaigned vigorously for the CDU’s sister parties in East Germany, which were able to form a government committed to reunification. In May 1990 Kohl’s government concluded a treaty with East Germany that unified the two countries’ economic and social-welfare systems and granted East Germany an equal exchange of their now-worthless East German currency for the powerful deutsch mark. Kohl worked strenuously to obtain the assent of both his NATO allies and the Soviet Union to German reunification, and on October 3, 1990, East Germany was dissolved and its constituent states joined West Germany in a reunified Germany. On December 2, 1990, in the first free, all-German parliamentary elections since 1932, Kohl and his governing CDU-CSU-FDP coalition won a 134-seat majority in the Bundestag.

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze (right) greeting West German Foreign Minister … Victor Yurchenko/AP Absorption of the moribund eastern German economy proved more expensive and difficult than predicted, and Kohl’s government had to commit itself to tax increases and cuts in government spending in order to finance unification. Voter discontent over these harsh realities, compounded by resentment over a severe recession in 1992–93, were reflected in the parliamentary elections of October 16, 1994, which reduced Kohl’s parliamentary majority to 10 seats. German ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 'intensive care" German ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 'intensive care" By Fiona Keating June 2, 2015 19:31 BST Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who first served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990, and then was appointed Chancellor of the reunited Germany from 1990 to 1998, was the first Chancellor of the reunified Germany.REUTERS/POOL Old Helmut Kohl, the former German chancellor is in a "critical" condition after surgery on his intestine.

The 85-year-old is in a clinic in Heidelberg, according to Der Spiegel. His office said he was "doing well under the circumstances". They also stated that he had a successful hip replacement in May, but needed a further operation, undergoing a bowel operation which put him in intensive care, according to the Mail Online. Sources close to Kohl say he has been in intensitve care for the last three weeks, while Bunte magazine says the ex-chancellor was unconscious for a long time following the operation on his intestine. In recent years, Kohl has rarely been seen in public, and has been confined to a wheelchair in recent years after suffering a stroke. The politician is estranged from his two sons following the suicide of his wife in 2002. She was depressed after suffering from a long-term illness which made her allergic to light. Germany's longest-serving postwar chancellor was also one of the authors of the European single currency, oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, and served first as chancellor of the former West and then of a reunited country.

Kohl was forced to resign in 2000 as head of the CDU (the Christian Democratic Union) after it was revealed he had received cash payments from unknown donors. A book of candid interviews with the former chancellor called Vermächtnis - die Kohl-Protokolle ("Legacy - the Kohl Transcripts"), revealed how he ridiculed current Chancellor Angela Merkel, the protégé he turned against following the expenses scandal that toppled him in 1999. "Ms Merkel couldn't even hold her fork and knife properly," Kohl is quoted as saying. "She hung around at state dinners so that I had to repeatedly tell her to pull herself together." Kohl was described as "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century" by U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. More about German politics Get Back! Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl Once Planned To Expel One-Half Of Germany’s Turkish Immigrants Get Back!

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl Once Planned To Expel One-Half Of Germany’s Turkish Immigrants 08/02/13 AT 2:15 PM Close Former West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wanted to send one-half of the country’s Turkish immigrant population back home, according to secret British documents from the National Archives. Spiegel Online reported that in 1982 the newly elected Kohl told British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of his plan to reduce the number of Turks in West Germany by 50 percent over the next four years during the latter’s visit to Bonn, then the capital of the country.

Minutes from the secret report, which have now been made public after the period of confidentiality has expired, stated that "Kohl… could not say this publicly yet… [But he felt] it was impossible for Germany to assimilate the Turks in their present numbers." Interestingly, according to the document, Kohl only targeted the Turks for expulsion, saying that Germany “had no problems with the Portuguese, the Italians, even the Southeast Asians, because these communities integrated well.” But Turks formed, by far, the largest foreign population in the country, having been invited as “gastarbeiter” (guest-workers) in the 1960s. The report noted that Kohl felt that Turks “came from a very distinctive culture and did not integrate well.” He cited that too many Turks engaged in practices like forced marriage and worked illegally. Of the Turks he would allow to remain in Germany, they would be provided with special schooling and encouraged to assimilate with German society. The only other people in the room when Kohl informed Thatcher of his grand plans were Kohl’s adviser Horst Teltschik and Thatcher’s private secretary A.J. Coles, who wrote the document in question.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who first served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990, and then was appointed Chancellor of the reunited Germany from 1990 to 1998, was the first Chancellor of the reunified Germany. Kohl is often credited with the successful reunification of East and West Germany. Kohl is also considered one of the key architects of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which acted as the foundation for the European Union. Kohl was recognized for contribution to a unified European economy was recognized with several awards: “Prince of Asturias” Award for International Cooperation (1996), named “Honorary Citizen of Europe” by the European heads of state or government for his “extraordinary work for European integration and cooperation” (1998). Photo: REUTERS/POOL Old Indeed, two weeks prior to his meeting with Thatcher, Kohl declared in a policy speech that: "integration is only possible if the number of foreigners living among us does not increase further." Spiegel suggested that if Kohl’s plan ever came to fruition, it would have enjoyed widespread support among the German populace.

"Back then, the societal consensus in Germany was that Turks were guest workers and would have to go home," Ulrich Herberta, a German author and historian, told Spiegel. In response to Spiegel’s revelations, Kohl’s office conceded the report was correct. “At the time, [Kohl's plan] … was part of a broader debate on immigration policy," stated his Berlin office on Friday, but added that the former chancellor “is not prepared to make any further comment on the issue.” In 1982, at the time of Kohl’s mini-summit with Thatcher, some 1.5 million Turks were settled in Germany, including the wives and children or the original male guest workers. (At that time, some 1.8 million Germans were jobless.) "The politicians in Bonn were overwhelmed," added Herbert. "They were afraid of being overrun with Turks, and wanted to get rid of them. But they didn't know how." Related Stories Germany Arrests Far-Right Extremist Whose Group May Have Killed 9 Immigrants Kohl’s plan was to provide financial compensation to Turks to return to their native land.

And, in fact, in 1984, the German state passed a law that would just do that -- a one-time payment of 10,500 deutschemarks for Turks to repatriate. "Only about 100,000 Turks left," said Herbert. Kohl, who is now 83 years old, had a dramatic change of heart with respect to foreigners by the early 1990s, after a wave of xenophobic attacks shocked Germans. In 1993, Kohl supported a measure to grant automatic German citizenship to the German-born third-generation of immigrants, in defiance of his own party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He even praised immigrants for having contributed "enormously to the well-being of Germany.” In 2000, Kohl went to Istanbul to attend the wedding of his son Peter to a Turkish banker. Kohl ruled Germany as Chancellor for 16 years, with his final term expiring in 1998. Now, some 3 million Turks live in Germany, with many having assumed German citizenship. They represent a little less than half of the country’s total “foreign” population.

Still, many Turks remain far outside of Germany’s mainstream, while a labor shortage in the country encourages the arrival of more skilled workers. Kenan Kolat, chairman of the country's Turkish Community Organization, said of Kohl’s program that “today's political class would never get away with that sort of thing. That's progress," according to the Berliner Zeuting newspaper. But Memet Kilic, an MP for the Green Party, commented: "Whilst the exposure of Helmut Kohl's way of thinking may be a novelty, it is a mindset that has been espoused by the … CDU and its Bavarian sister party for decades." Kohl likely to see dream fulfilled-- first chancellor of reunited Germany - tribunedigital-baltimoresun Kohl likely to see dream fulfilled-- first chancellor of reunited Germany December 02, 1990|By Diana Jean Schemo | Diana Jean Schemo,Sun Staff Correspondent BERLIN -- As Germans from Leipzig to Hamburg vote in their first free elections since 1932, Helmut Kohl -- whose own conservative party considered replacing him just last year -- appears set to realize his avowed dream of becoming the first elected chancellor of the reunited Germany. It was Mr.

Kohl who, as West German chancellor, first recognized, then seized, prodded and drove the historic opportunity that thousands of refugees fleeing the former East Germany presented him with last year. Now, he has left his main rival, a sassy Social Democrat named Oskar Lafontaine, in the political dust. The most recent poll by the Infas polling institute shows Mr. Kohl's Christian Democratic Union, along with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, picking up 45 percent of today's vote. The Free Democrats, Mr. Kohl's coalition partner, are expected to win 9.5 percent, giving the team a 54 percent majority. Mr. Lafontaine's party is expected to come in with 34 percent. In large measure, Mr. Lafontaine's surprisingly dismal showing may be due not just to Mr. Kohl's success in bringing about German unity and restoring his country's sovereignty before Election Day, but also to Mr. Lafontaine's apparent preference for being right over being politically wise. The twice-divorced, dapper young politician appears at campaign rallies sporting dark shirts and thin leather ties, in sharp contrast to the bulky and staid Mr.

Kohl. In a predominantly conservative country, Mr. Lafontaine's spicy style may win him the amusing interest of voters, but the unexciting Mr. Kohl inspires a sense of confidence and reliability at a time of sharp change in Germany. "Kohl gives out such solid vibrations," said Sybille Altendorf, 44, a housewife, who went to hear both candidates speak in the past two weeks. Mr. Lafontaine also misjudged the sentiment among voters in placing himself squarely against rapid reunifiSee GERMANY, 20A, Col. 4GERMANY, from 15Acation, at a time when the euphoria over the opening of the long-closed border was still high. Even after that euphoria turned into grudging acceptance, Mr. Lafontaine won no points for his reluctance to celebrate the coming together of East and West Germany. Instead, he consistently criticized Mr. Kohl for his handling of German unity, complaining of hidden, higher costs than the government initially acknowledged and predicting -- against the chancellor's assurances -- that Mr. Kohl would raise taxes after the election to finance unification. It is not that anyone doubts that Mr.

Kohl will increase taxes, or that he could not possibly say so just before an election. "Sure we'll have to pay something. Sure it'll cost," said Ilse Schaeffer, 65, who stood on a park bench in Stuttgart Thursday waving a CDU flag to welcome Mr. Kohl. "We want to pay for this." Mr. Lafontaine has proved to be right about the high cost of unification, but it has somehow become beside the point among voters. "What Kohl says gives people more courage," said Dieter Altendorf, 47, Sybille's husband. "Lafontaine just brings up the hardship. He makes people feel bad." Former East Germans will also be slow to forgive Mr. Lafontaine for his attempts to block the currency union between the two countries July 1. His party is expected to get just 23 percent support among voters in eastern Germany. The 47-year-old Social Democrat does not appear to be winning much of a sympathy vote from the assassination attempt in April when a mentally deranged woman dressed in white slipped a kitchen knife out of a bouquet of flowers to slit his throat. So slim are Mr.

Lafontaine's chances, and so divided is his party, that former Social Democratic Chancellor Helmut Schmidt caused something of a scandal in party circles when a Dutch newspaper recently quoted him as saying Mr. Lafontaine would not win and did not deserve to win. Mr. Schmidt did not deny having made the statement, but he contended that its use was "unauthorized." He apparently made the remarks to the journalist after their formal interview had ended. German unity may not be the issue of the future, but it has surely been decisive in rescuing Mr. Kohl from the political doldrums. A man who has built his career until now on the gritty work of local politics, Mr. Kohl is now latching on to his role as statesman in this year's campaign. During his campaign pitch, he speaks little about housing, pensions or education -- the stuff of Mr. Lafontaine's speeches. Instead, he speaks about Germany's role in developing the Third World, about the need to strengthen relations and overcome Germany's historical enmity with Poland, the way it has with France. He acknowledges there will be sacrifices ahead as western Germany strives to bring the eastern sector up to its standard of living.

But the 60-year-old Mr. Kohl turns hardship to virtue by reminding audiences of Germany's postwar devastation. "Did we already forget how to find new solutions?" he asks. German Reunification » Resources » Surfnetkids German Reunification by Barbara J. Feldman Leave a Comment Forty-five years after the country was split in two in 1949, Germany was reunited in 1990 when East Germany joined West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) to form a united Germany. Also united was the city of Berlin, which had been separated by a Wall from 1961 until 1989. The unification process is celebrated as a national German holiday on October 3, known as German Unity Day. BBC: Timeline: Germany 4 stars BBC News presents a chronology of German history starting with Emperor Charlemagne in 800, and ending with the elections of 2012. The timeline of the reunification starts in 1949. "Germany is divided. The US, French and British zones in the west become the Federal Republic of Germany; the Soviet zone in the east becomes the communist German Democratic Republic.

Konrad Adenauer, of the Christian Democrats (CDU) is West Germany's first chancellor. East Germany is led by Walter Ulbricht." Berlin Wall Memorial 5 stars In 1961, the East Germans erected a 103-mile barrier to separate East Berlin from West Berlin. The Berlin Wall blocked free access in both directions for twenty-eight years. In November 1989, the Wall was opened, and East German citizens could once again travel without restriction to the West. Located in the middle of the city, the Berlin Wall Memorial "contains the last piece of Berlin Wall with the preserved grounds behind it and is thus able to convey an impression of how the border fortifications developed until the end of the 1980s." Germany.info: October 3 - Day of German Unity 5 stars The German Missions in the United States offers an introduction to Germany in this Germany.info website. This section about the Day of German Unity provides five articles about the historic event, and its worldwide implications.

"More than remembering the wall, fences and armed guards that separated East from West during the Cold War, the Day of German Unity is a time to celebrate the peaceful unification and a time to renew the commitment to using freedom to help shape our world." SBS Australia: Timeline: Partition to Reunification 5 stars Here's one more timeline, this one from the SBS TV station in Australia. It covers the events leading up to reunification, starting with 1961 when the Berlin Wall was erected to separate East and West Berlin. It continues until 1990 when the first united Germany parliamentary elections are held, and the new Bundestag (German parliament) is formed on December 20, 1990. US Diplomacy Center: Germany: East and West Unite 5 stars "President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker III endorsed Chancellor Helmut Kohl's 1989 proposal seeking unity, despite resistance from Britain and France. U.S. and German diplomats worked collegially together on the Two Plus Four Agreement - Two Germanys and Four Allies, finally bringing an end to conflict that emerged in post-War Germany." This excellent resource is published by the U.S.

Diplomacy Center, an organization honoring the service of U.S. diplomats. German Reunification Resource Handout for Classroom or Homeschool: Just $2.00 Honorable Mentions The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy! On This Day: East and West Germany Reunited The Reichstag pictured during the reunification celebration, Oct. 3, 1990. On This Day: East and West Germany Reunited October 03, 2011 06:00 AM by findingDulcinea Staff The Reunification of Germany In the years following the end of World War II, Germany was divided into democratic West Germany and communist East Germany, which was run as a Soviet satellite. The East German border was closed in 1952, isolating its citizens not only from West Germany but from the entire Western world. The situation in East Germany began to change in the mid-1980s , when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev instituted the liberalizing perestroika and glasnost reform measures.

East German leader Eric Honecker rebuffed Gorbachev’s calls for openness, and the country remained one of the most repressive in the Eastern Bloc. In August 1989, Hungary opened its borders, and thousands of East Germans escaped through Hungary to Austria or flocked to the West German embassy. Meanwhile, calls for openness in East Germany grew louder, as peaceful protests in the cities of Leipzig and Dresden drew tens of thousands of people. In October, Honecker resigned and was replaced by the more liberal Egon Krenz, who was open to reunification with West Germany for economic reasons. Sources in this Story Library of Congress: Country Studies/Area Handbook Series: Germany Struggling to stop the flood of refugees, the East German government decided on Nov. 9 to allow limited and regulated travel across the West German border, including through the Berlin Wall, which kept democratic West Berlin, located in the heart of East Germany, cut off from East Berlin. That night, hundreds of thousands of East and West Berliners gathered around the wall and began tearing it down with hammers and chisels. The fall of the Berlin Wall, which had stood as a symbol of the division of Germany, signaled the end of East Germany.

East Germans fled the country in droves, mostly to West Germany, prompting West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to introduce a 10-point plan for reunification . Those who stayed in East Germany demanded democratization . In March 1990, in East Germany’s first free elections, the pro-reunification Alliance for Germany coalition won a plurality of the votes. “Events proceeded at breakneck speed, and the feeling of needing to seize the moment drove both German-German and international negotiations,” explains the German Historical Institute. East and Western German leaders entered negotiations with the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union, known as the “Two-Plus-Four” talks. In order to allay fears of a more powerful Germany, the German leaders agreed to limit the size of its military and promised to respect international borders. On Aug. 31, 1990, East and West Germany signed the Unification Treaty , which called for the accession of five states of East Germany to West Germany effective on midnight of Oct. 3. On Sept. 12, the Two-Plus-Four talks concluded with the signing of a treaty allowing for the reunification of Germany. On Oct.

3, Germans took to the streets to celebrate the official reunification of Germany . “Forty-five years after it was carved up in defeat and disgrace, Germany was reunited today in a midnight celebration of pealing bells, national hymns and the jubilant blare of good old German oom-pah-pah,” wrote The New York Times. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” Speech The leaders of Allied powers Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union decided at the February 1945 Yalta Conference and the July-August 1945 Potsdam Conference to divide Germany into four sections, each controlled by the three countries plus France. They did the same with Berlin, located in Soviet-controlled sector. The Allies initially agreed to “ treat Germany as a single economic unit with some central administrative departments in a decentralized framework,” according to the U.S. State Department. The U.S. and Britain attempted to rebuild the German economy by forming a unified economic zone, the Bizone, in 1947, and the U.S. provided economic aid through the Marshall Plan. The Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent France, feared a powerful Germany and was reluctant to see it rebuilt.

Meanwhile, relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had broken down as the Soviet Union seized much of Eastern Europe and placed it under communist rule. Germany became a center of the ideological battle between Western capitalism and Soviet communism. In June 1948, the Soviets imposed a blockade of West Berlin in an attempt to drive out the West; the blockade was unsuccessful, and it cemented the divide between the East and West sectors. In May 1949, the U.S., British and French sectors formed the Federal Republic of Germany , commonly known as West Germany. Later that year, the Soviet Union established the German Democratic Republic , or East Germany. More than 3.5 million East Germans fled to West Germany between 1945 and 1961 to escape the poor economy and repressive government of East Germany. Needing to stop the flow of emigrants, the East German government closed the West German border in 1952. Nine years later, in order to stop its citizens from escaping through West Berlin, East Germany constructed the Berlin Wall dividing East and West Berlin.

German Reunification | 20 Years Later After the Collapse of East Germany German Reunification -20 Years Later In 1989 mass demonstrations led to a collapse of the Berlin Wall . A year later, on October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were reunited, after being separate states for forty years. 20 years ago German Chancellor Helmut Kohl pushed unification forward and served as the architect of a united Germany. He promised East Germans blooming landscapes and a new western-style life. Not everyone in the western world wanted a united Germany. Great Britain and France were opposed because they thought Germany would become too powerful. On the whole , German reunification has been a success. Much progress has been made in the eastern part of Germany in the last 20 years. City and towns have been modernized. Most East Germans are better off than they were 20 years ago. Eastern Germany has become a home to new industries, especially in the fields of biotechnology and renewable energy. Productivity is about 80% of the West German level, higher than any of the former Communist countries in Eastern Europe .

Berlin, a divided city for forty years, has won new importance and become the capital of a reunified Germany. Since 1990 the city has been expanding. The Reichstag building has been newly designed and the open Brandenburg Gate has become the symbol of unity. Brandenburg Gate in Berlin - Symbol of German Reunification - Thomas Wolf, However , many problems remain. Income is still lower than in the western part of Germany. Workers earn 20% less than their western colleagues. Unemployment in the eastern states is almost double the rate of western Germany. Since 1990 almost 1.5 million “Ossis” as the Eastern Germans are called, mostly higher educated and younger people, have moved from east to west in search of better jobs and more opportunities. Such a brain drain leaves an aging population behind. Many easterners are disappointed because change and a better life have not come fast enough. They long for the good old days when the state cared for them. Today, most of them are supporters the Left Party, a successor to the Communist party of eastern Germany. Many East Germans still feel they are not accepted as equal citizens.

Although about half the Germans in the west say life before 1990 was better for them the majority think reunification was a good idea. The price they had to pay was very high. Since 1991 a 5.5% solidarity tax has been collected from the population. It has generated almost 200 billion Euros, most of which has gone into improving roads and building new infrastructure. German reunification has also helped change the face and future of Europe. Without it new countries in the east and southeast of Europe would not have emerged so quickly. When Eastern Germany became a part of NATO the Warsaw Pact fell apart. The Euro zone would probably not exist today without a strong Germany.

The new states of Germany biotechnology =to use living things to make drugs or medicine bloom = to become better, healthier brain drain = when educated or skilled people move away from their own country to a country where they can earn more chancellor = leader of a government collapse = break down importance = the quality of being important improve = to make better income = what you earn for the work you do long = wish majority = most of the people or things in a group on the whole = over all opportunity = chance to do something oppose = to be against productivity =how fast goods and products are produced progress = advancement , step forward renewable = something that can be used over and over again reunite = to join together again successor = someone who comes after supporter = a person who is a follower of a group, organization or party unemployment = being out of work; people who have no job unity = union, being together

Question: Who was the first Chancellor of the re-united Germany in 1990?
Answer: HELMUT KOHL